Groundwater Resource Assessments

Groundwater Recharge Quantification & Modeling: AMO principals have performed several groundwater recharge quantification assignments for settings located within the area’s Highlands and Piedmont Provinces. The quantifications have involved: evaluation of hydrogeologic properties of crystalline/metamorphic formations and igneous and sedimentary formations of the Newark Supergroup; watershed/drainage basin runoff factors; precipitation records; consumptive use characteristics/estimates; and recharge calculations through assessment of streamflow data and well/groundwater monitoring records. Our recharge potential quantification models are currently developed through analysis of soil drainage characteristics and available hydrologic data sets. The models are designed for application within variously sized areas of interest (between one acre & several square miles), and provide rationale for local water-resource plans and township ordinances. Supplemental field study to further calibrate the recharge models is anticipated through future grants.

Groundwater Supply & Impact Assessments: AMO principals have developed and directed groundwater supply and impact assessments (GSIAs) for areas of potential development in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Our assessments depend upon the size of the proposed development, but usually involve performance of aquifer tests, calculations of aquifer properties, groundwater sampling, assessment of laboratory data, water budget assessments, and professional opinions regarding the quantity and quality of groundwater in the study areas.

Groundwater Resource Damages Assessment, Investigation and Cleanup: AMO principals have directed the installation of hundreds of groundwater wells and performed more than one hundred hydrogeologic evaluations on sites in the northeastern United States and Canada; most of these evaluations have involved hydrogeologic units within the physiographic Highlands and Piedmont Provinces in Pennsylvania & New Jersey (Triassic and Jurassic Formations in particular). We also: conduct geologic logging and hydrogeologic testing for purposes of assessing groundwater supply and flow characteristics; evaluate, through construction of analytical or numerical models, local and/or regional potable water supplies relative to the fate and transport of groundwater contamination (including nitrates); and design, install, and/or assess groundwater containment, control, diversion, and treatment systems. Some of these assessments support client interests relative to evolving Natural Resource Damage claims in New Jersey.

Wellhead Protection: We have directed several hydrogeologic investigations for purposes of protecting municipal well fields in Highlands and Piedmont Province aquifer systems. Many of the disciplines mentioned above were used during these assignments, which assisted local and/or state agencies with developing well-restriction areas. Well fields in Elmwood Park, Garfield, Hawthorne, Lodi, North Haledon, Wallington, Oakland, Pompton Lakes, Rosedale Park, Pohatcong Valley, and New Lisbon are among those worked. We have also developed wellhead protection plans through determination of Classification Exception Areas (or CEAs). These areas are locations where data and technical input are provided regarding potential sources of contamination and related aquifer-use restrictions ultimately regulated by NJDEP.